


A Birthday Surprise

by Mandergee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Philinda 24 Kisses, Spoilers for Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5347313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandergee/pseuds/Mandergee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So my word was 'heartthrob' for this year, and while I swear I thought this was going in another direction...it wound up where it is. :) </p>
<p>Day Three of Philinda 24 Kisses!</p>
<p>Also: Spoilers for Season 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Birthday Surprise

 

     "And she _said,"_ Skye's hands wove through the air in an uncharacteristic fashion that- given her powers and penchant for discovery- had Bobbi subtly slipping down the narrow bench that framed either side of the dining room table. "that May spent the night before prom _dancing_ in her bedroom."

     "May dancing." Neither of them had been there- at the party to retrieve the painting at the forefront into the search for alien writing, although Skye had done her best to see whatever she'd been able in the preparation stages, and had never quite gotten over the fact that she'd missed May _and_ Coulson doing...whatever dance people their age did. _The foxtrot? Tango? Whiskey?_ The last, she mused, was something she wouldn't have minded having, over ice, after the length of the day ahead of them.

     "May going to prom. That's a picture." Hunter grinned as Bobbi elbowed him sharply, turned his gaze toward Skye as her laugh filled the room. "Watch it. She's gonna hear you laughing and know it's about her."

     "How's she going to know that? Unless somebody _tells_ her."

     "No one's blabbing, Bob. But you know her- the woman's got a talent for sniffing what's up before you can spill the beans."

     "And if _anyone_ 'spills the beans' on this one...that person is going to find themselves cleaning storeroom G with a toothbrush. So I'd better not hear anything else outside of this room." The voice that intercepted Skye's next words surprised them, and the trio looked up to see Coulson entering, neatly twisting his new hand into place as a smile spread over his face. "May's off with Fitzsimmons, so we have another hour before we have to worry about anyone overhearing. What do you have so far, Daisy?"

     "I just talked to May's mom, and she gave me a few ideas." The schematic on her tablet disappeared- whatever it had been wasn't nearly as important as the plans that lie beneath it, and nimble fingers tapped at the touchscreen until another image blossomed across the page. "A reflecting pool in the basement would be a great touch- apparently she asked for one when she was eleven. With really big fish."

     "To skate on," Coulson supplied, and the admission had Daisy's grin breaking out yet again. "She liked to ice skate, and she thought the fish could swim under the ice. But I don't think it's quite what we're going for."

     "You know what she wanted when she was eleven?"

     "I've know May for a lot longer than you realize, Daisy. Try again."

     "Fine." The screen changed again, and the sharp sigh forced through her lips brushed shaggy bangs from her eyes as Daisy angled the tablet in his direction. "Basement dojo. We've got supplies, and Mack thinks he could do most of the work himself if you can keep May out of the old gym for a few days. Whatever he can't do- Lincoln knows a few people we can trust to finish it."

     "She could use a space of her own to work in, Coulson." Bobbi piped up, and surprise joined deep thought in the creases lining his forehead as she glanced over at Daisy. "We talked about it- and if we want to keep her, we have to try to find a way to make it work for _May_ , too. She's going to appreciate this."

     "What's the fiftieth birthday, anyway? Silver?"

      "Anniversary...maybe? And shut up- May isn't _fifty_." Another sharp elbow to the ribs, and Hunter wheezed as Bobbi's lips pressed together in a tight smile before she slid off of the bench and rose, nursing her newly recovered knee for a moment. "Look. With everything that's been going on with her lately, May could really use the lift. If we can't find Ward..maybe we could find another way to let her work off some steam. You should really think about this."

     "A dojo's going to cost a lot."

     "So would finding another agent with the same chops as May. It's simple, mate- either you fork it over, or you lose your right hand all over. Simple choice, I'd say." The still wheezing Hunter trailed behind his ex-wife as she walked away, grinning as Daisy's hand reached out for a parting fistbump, and the two remaining in the room eyed each other warily.

     "It's your call, DC. But if you're not going to give me the okay for a reflecting pool, this looks like a good deal."

     "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you."

     "May's birthday is in six days, Coulson. You're gonna have to get back to me sooner than a month from now, and without all of the red tape." She left the tablet sitting where it was, the image of a tiny room in polished wood staring up at him as she walked away. "I'll be downstairs with Mack, laying it all out when you decide."

     "All right." And he _would_ decide- because everything they'd said was right, from the reflecting pool to the fact that he'd lose more than he'd ever bargained for if he couldn't do _something_ to keep May from running. She didn't have anything tying her there, but the hope that slowly leeched from her day after day had become harder to ignore. He couldn't leave it to disappear, and he certainly couldn't let her birthday go by without a gift that surpassed the many he'd given her over the years.

     This year had to be something _good_ \- and as he stared at the image before him he knew it _wasn't_ going to be a basement dojo. Because it wouldn't be enough.

~~~

     "You can't look yet."

     "I thought we did all of the trust exercises at the Academy- are you making me revisit my youth again?" May blindly reached out for the wall, frowned as her fingers met nothing but air...as they had for the last several moments she'd spent steered by his capable hands. “And it's my birthday- so wherever we're going, I know it's something to do with that. You can't fool me, Phil.”

     "Even if it _is_ for your birthday- and I'm pleading the fifth on that one for the sake of it- I'm not telling you _where_ we're going because it's still a _surprise_.” They'd gone in circles for twenty minutes, and although he imagined she'd been keeping track, he couldn't let himself believe that she'd spoil the journey by imagining the destination. He'd promised her when they'd left her bunk that he wouldn't steer her wrong, but that he'd needed to take her somewhere without letting her see.

     "If we aren't there in fifteen minutes, Phil, I'm going back to your office for the rest of the bourbon."

     "I changed the hiding place," He replied, and was rewarded with a soft chuckle as his arms pushed Melinda toward the open door to their right. "We're just about there. One more second....and....okay. Here."

     "About time." Able fingers unfastened the blindfold- one of his more decorative and slightly gaudy ties that Skye- _Daisy-_ had given him as an amusing 'father's day' gift when things had been so much different. When they'd been a different kind of _family_ , one where he'd entertained the idea of himself and Melinda as the parents to a gang of rag-tag young adults, all of whom had come from places where they'd wanted to belong to something bigger. When it had fallen apart...so had that family, and his determination to bring it back together was what had overridden Daisy's idea for a dojo and sent Phil Coulson into the upper floors of the Playground with some boxes and the fleeting hope of creating something new.

      "Well? What do you think?" Melinda rarely spoke- not much of a change from before, which had oddly settled him in the time of upheaval, although as she stood surveying the tiny space Phil wondered if the silence this time was something he should celebrate...or something he should be wary of. "If you still want the bourbon...we're right next to my office. Old storage room."

     "You talked to my mother." She ignored the offer of bourbon and spin in a neat circle with surprise in her eyes, as if his fear of Lian May had continued through the years. And maybe it had, that lingering fear that the former operative would kill him in his sleep despite his very-secret status, because of his hand in _anything_ happening to her only child.

     "Daisy did that. But really...this part was all me." The contents of those boxes he'd carried into the room had been spread around it, tiny ceramic figures in delicate dresses that glittered beneath UV lights and seemed to move with the sun that poured through the single window. Blonde, brunette, raven haired figure skaters on mirrors and surfaces meant to be ice- a collection her mother had packed carefully in gauze and bubble wrap, and one that Phil had gingerly taken from it piece by piece in order to arrange them in as he had. "I remembered."

     "I was never Nancy Carrigan."

     "No, but you were beautiful on the ice." When they'd gone in the Academy together she'd broken the lock to the rink with a rusty spade, laughed at the shock on his face as she'd tugged him through the gate they'd pried open and thrust a pair of skates into his hands. He hadn't made it far, if barely past the edge, but slack jawed wonder was enough to keep him upright as Melinda May soared expertly across the smooth rink, and amazement had kept him there until she'd finished. "No one should be sad on their birthday, Melinda. And your mother kept all of these in the attic- she said you collected them for years, even after you stopped skating every day."

     "I can't believe I fell for this," Her fingers reached for a skater in the midst of a figure eight, brushed over the delicate hand that reached out as if only for her. "You led me around the base for an hour...just to come here."

     "You can never be too careful."

     "I know." Her eyes glittered with amusement, and he blinked as she slid into his arms, pressed herself against his torso and lifted herself onto her toes to whisper softly in his ear. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but as her lips brushed the shell of skin he shivered, and she pulled back with a grin. "Really, Phil? David Bowie?”

      “I-” It had also been in the box, folded neatly and keeping several fragile figurines from damaging themselves en route. A lifesized poster of Bowie as the Goblin King...and he'd remembered the vague mention that a teenaged Melinda had been more than enamored with the musician back in the day. “I'm pretty sure Bowie was considered quite the heartthrob.”

      “I don't ever want to hear you use that word again.” She pressed her lips softly against his, eyes still gazing at the poster behind them. “You're going to need to take that down if we're going to spend any time in here.”  


     “Afraid you're going to be distracted?”

     “More like...my idea of a heartthrob has changed over the years.” In his memory she'd kissed him then when she'd stumbled, pulling him down onto the ice and continuing as soft snow began to fall from a sky of gray. She kissed him now, again, and the tenderness of the moment told him that she was back again- that she'd come into that room from time to time and know that he'd missed her. "And that's the only time you're ever going to hear me say it, so don't start."

    For that, he kissed her back. And he knew she was home.


End file.
